Cruise Blues
by LittleMissDreamstar
Summary: The Kanto and Johto gym leaders are invited to a conference with all the gym leaders on a cruise ship.  The ship suddenly stops, and during that time, there's lots of surprises...  Contains FatherlyShipping.  OC Aster was created by a friend.
1. Chapter 1

"RIIING!" I was training with my Pokémon when the phone rang. I ran to the phone. "Hello?"

"This is Champion Lance. All the gym leaders of the Kanto and Johto leagues will be meeting at the Indigo Plateau at 11:00 am tomorrow. Will you be there, Janine?"

"I will." I hung up. Why was there a meeting? Was Team Rocket attacking? That seemed unlikely, because Ethan and Lyra, two kids from Johto had stopped them after Team Rocket arose from the dust. They were not too much younger than me, maybe a year or two. Anyway, it could be something special, like a party. I like going to parties. I continued to think of possibilities while I was training and throughout the evening.

The next day I woke up early, as I usually do. Instead of my usual training, I allowed myself to get ready for the meeting. I wore my best outfit, even though Lance probably just wanted to tell us something, and gave myself a little time to relax.

At 10:30, I let Crobat out of its Poké Ball to fly me to the Indigo Plateau. "Crobat, fly me to the Indigo Plateau, please." With me holding on, Crobat set off. It knew the route well from me repeatedly visiting my father. He's one of the Elite Four, the best trainers in the region, and in the case of Kanto and Johto, in both Kanto and Johto. Under them are the gym leaders. My father used to be a gym leader until he was promoted, leaving his former job to me. I've been a gym leader for about six months, right behind Falkner, a Johto gym leader, who had been a leader for a year. He and I argue a lot, every Monday to be exact. Lots of people have seen us argue, and they think we might be in love. I've thought of it a couple times, but neither of us have done anything. Looking down, I thought of the wonderful things in my world and how lucky I was.

At Indigo Plateau, I entered the building and asked where the meeting was.

"Hello? I'm here for the Pokémon League meeting, where is it?"

"Downstairs in the meeting room on the right."

"Thanks."

I headed down the stairs to the meeting room, easily finding it. When I got there, I was told to sit on the left side. It seemed like Kanto was on the left side, Johto was on the right, and the Elite Four were in the back. Once all the gym leaders were in the room- the Elite Four were already there and I'd talked to my father- the meeting started with Lance speaking.

"Hello, Kanto and Johto gym leaders and Elite Four members. I've called you here to make an announcement. Our Pokémon Leagues will be going on a special cruise south of Johto."

Everyone cheered, and Lance told everyone to be quiet. "Shhh."

"We're leaving on Monday. Meet at the Olivine Harbor at 9 am."

Lance then continued to lecture us on what we were to do when we were there. "There will be a meeting with some other Pokémon Leagues there, and we'll also have a lot of time to relax." Then the meeting got into the boring stuff. Lance talked on and on and on about stuff like challengers and that. Overall, the meeting lasted about an hour. Once it was over, everyone started talking. I decided to eavesdrop on my father. He was talking to Karen and Bruno, two of the other Elite Four members. They were talking about the boring stuff that adults talk about like news and that. I decided to talk to some of the other gym leaders. I said hi to Jasmine, who was talking to Whitney.

"Hi, Jasmine. What's going on?"

"Nothing much, Whitney and I were talking about what to do there."

"I'm a bit scared of boats. They give me the creeps."

"It's OK. Let's change the subject."

Whitney jumps in with a new topic. "How have your gyms been going?"

I don't like to talk about the gym because that's kinda boring. I groan. "Ugh. Well, the gym's been going very well."

"Good to hear." Whitney just ends the conversation and walks away. Jasmine does too, and I start towards the door. All of a sudden, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to find myself staring at Falkner. "What?"

"Hi…" Falkner doesn't seem to have much experience talking to a girl.

"You OK?"

"Yep…" He slightly blushes.

I giggle. "You're turning pink!"

Falkner then turns bright red. Obviously he has a crush on me. I just smile and walk away, thinking of what had happened. Now I know Falkner has a crush on me. I mean, I sorta like him, but not that much. Then Falkner chases me. "Hey! Wait up!"

I turn around. "What?"

"Um, what do you think of this cruise idea?"

"I like it, but I hate boats."

"OK. I'm OK with them, but Misty sure likes them." I turn to look at Misty, who was talking to Erika, Sabrina, and Clair.

"Yep, that would seem reasonable." I turn to face Falkner again. "She _is_ a Water-type trainer."

"So, you know what you're going to do there?"

"I don't know. Probably have to see what's there first."

"Me too, I don't really know."

Falkner said goodbye and I left the room. Once I was outside, I flew back home with Crobat just as I did coming here. I looked down over the Kanto region, seeing Viridian City and the cycling road on the way to Fuchsia City. When I got back, I went to the gym, seeing a few challengers. I battled them one by one, and only one of them was able to beat me. Ariados was able to knock most of everyone's Pokémon out, but one Charmeleon defeated Ariados with a powerful Flamethrower. I took my Pokémon to the Pokémon Center after the last challenger, Nurse Joy putting the Poké Balls in the machine. After they were healed, I started to pack for the trip, even though it was three days away. Today is Friday, and the trip starts Monday. I like to get a little packing out of the way every day. I packed some outfits and those sorts of things first. Stuff I like to bring and Pokémon will wait until the night before the trip. I then followed my normal daily schedule, working at the gym and taking short breaks every once in a while. That night, I thought of the trip and what to do. I was probably going to hang out with some friends of mine. I closed my eyes, thinking of the trip… and Falkner.


	2. Chapter 2

Before I knew it, it was Monday, the day of the trip. I'd gotten the last of my packing done the night before. It was still early, about 7 am when I set out. I let Crobat out again, and told it to fly me to Indigo Plateau. My father had invited me to see him before the trip and then ride to Olivine City with him. I see him a lot, but this time was special. We were actually going on a trip.

About half an hour later, I arrived at the Indigo Plateau. I headed straight for my father's room. The receptionist didn't even ask who I was or where I was going, because she'd seen me so many times and knew I would always go to my father's room. My father was there waiting for me. "Hi Janine! You excited?"

"Yep! Time for a vacation!"

"Glad to see you're excited. How's the gym?"

"Great. There were five challengers on Friday when I got back from the meeting, and only one was able to beat me."

"Great job! I can see I left the gym in the right hands."

"Thanks."

About a half an hour later, Lance came in the room. "Koga, it's time to go."

My father replied, "Alright." He turned toward me. "Come on, Janine."

We headed for the entrance where the Elite Four and I flew on Lance's Dragonite toward Olivine City. Everyone talked on the way, but I stayed quiet. My father finally invited me to join the conversation. "Janine, why are you so quiet?"

"I don't know. I'm too excited, I guess."

"Come on, you can join in on the conversation."

We all talked about Pokémon and the trip the entire way there. When we made it there, it was about 8:30. We were the first ones there. I waited and waited and waited. I decided to let one of my Pokémon out to play. "Come out, Ariados!"

The Elite Four members also sent out Pokémon. The Pokémon played together as more people arrived. Everyone ended up sending Pokémon out to play. When the ship arrived, everyone called their Pokémon back and boarded the ship. Other Pokémon Leagues were to arrive later, we were told. The ship was going to stay in the port as other Pokémon Leagues arrived. Lance gave us some instructions. "The first mate is leading everyone to their rooms. Our rooms are all nearby, but we'll need to double up. Find someone you get along well with."

I wound up partnered with Misty. She's one of my friends from the Kanto League, and we get along well. Everyone entered the ship at the same time. There was a girl at a desk near the door. "Hi, I'm Dawn. I'm one of the crew members. Here are your room keys." Everyone was given a set of keys to their rooms. Dawn then told us, "The first mate Aster will be here for you next. Wait over there." She pointed to an area that appeared like a waiting room. After a few minutes of waiting, a girl with curly white hair and steel blue eyes appeared. She looked maybe fifteen or sixteen, pretty young. She wore a dark gray shirt and white jeans with black sandals. The girl spoke. "Hi, I'm Aster, and I'm the first mate. Follow me!" She then turned to Lance and tried flirting with him. "Hiiiii…"

Lance ignored her. We all sighed and followed Aster to our rooms. They were all on the first floor of the cruise ship, near the deck. Aster showed everyone to their rooms individually. "Janine and Misty, this is your room." I opened the door and saw a beautiful room with two beds on either side of the room. I got the left side and Misty got the right. "There's a call button right there." Aster pointed to a red button on the wall near the door. "If you need anything or there's an emergency, just push the button. One of the crew members will come and help." She then closed the door and continued to show everyone to their rooms. I heard Aster flirting with Lance again, and I rolled my eyes. "Ugh."

"What?" Misty was confused.

"Aster is flirting with Lance again."

"Why does she do that?"

"How should I know? Go ask her."

Misty starts to unpack, and I do too. It didn't take us that long to unpack. I set my Poké Balls on the bed. Pokémon aren't supposed to be out of their Poké Balls on the ship, except in designated areas. I'd brought Ariados, Crobat, and Weezing with me. Misty told me she'd brought Lapras, Milotic and Starmie. After we were settled in, we looked in a book that had been put in our room that detailed all the things on the ship. I ran my finger along the book, reading the names of various facilities. "Arcade… pool… lots of other things…"

"Lots of other things? Janine, you are silly."

I laughed. "Sometimes I can be a goofball."

We both started laughing. After talking for a little bit, we decided to explore the ship. We headed to the pool first. I changed into my swimsuit, and Misty always wears a swimsuit, so she didn't need to change. On the way there, we ran into the Sinnoh Pokémon League, whose rooms were not too far from ours. They were just arriving, since they had flown in on a plane. There were some girls my age, so I decided to say hi.

"Who are YOU?" One girl was being very rude.

"I'm Janine from Kanto. I'm the gym leader of Fuchsia City."

"So you're a gym leader too?" Another girl just jumped in. "My name is Candice, and I specialize in Ice-types. What type do you specialize in?"

"Poison."

"Cool. Hopefully I'll see you around the ship."

Misty and I continued toward the pool. When we got there, I first decided to jump in the shallow end. Misty went straight for the diving board. Once I'd been in the shallow end for a few minutes, I headed toward the deep end. Diving boards are a bit scary, but I like the deep end. Misty called to me from the high dive. "Hey Janine! You should try this!"

"I'm scared of diving boards."

"Come on, at least try the low dive. I'll make sure you're OK."

"Well, OK, I'll try."

I headed over toward the low diving board. Misty had jumped off the high dive already and was headed toward the low diving board. Once I got there, Misty was waiting. There was no line because most people liked the high dive, so I got to go right ahead. I slowly walked down the diving board. It felt like walking a plank. When I got to the end, I was reluctant to jump off. Misty watched me. Finally, after a few seconds of hesitation, I jumped off into twelve feet of water. I floated up after a second or two underwater and began treading water. I swam toward where Misty was standing out of the water. "That wasn't so bad."

"See?"

"That was kind of fun. I want to do it again!"

"Go right ahead!"

After jumping off the diving board for a while, we decided to head back. We were talking as we walked. All of a sudden, Falkner appeared out of nowhere. "Hey, Janine. Where are you headed?"

"Back to my room. You?"

"The arcade."

"I might head there next."

"See you later."

Misty and I head back to our room, and I change back into my regular outfit. I want to go to the arcade, and Misty decides to just hang around. I headed toward the arcade. When I was playing the pot of gold game where you put a coin in and get coins out if you knock them off, Falkner comes up and taps me on the shoulder.

"Hi."

"Hey Falkner. What's up?"

"Just playing games."

"Me too."

I continued to play games. I won a lot of tickets on the whack-a-mole game, and I traded them in for a little game to play. I didn't bring any games, and it was something small that could fit in my suitcase. Leaving the arcade, I thought of Falkner. Was he stalking me? Or did he just have a big crush on me? I was confused.


	3. Chapter 3

That night, as the ship was sailing, I felt a sudden jolt. The intercom came on. "This is Captain Conway speaking. The ship has stalled. Mechanics are taking a look now. Please stay calm, the ship is not sinking. We're just stuck. I repeat, please stay calm, we're not sinking." I hear a scream down the hall. Then I hear footsteps. Within seconds, the door opens. "Janine!" I hear a voice. It turned out to be Falkner's. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Falkner grabs my arm. "Come with me."

Dragged by my arm, Falkner brings me to the hallway. "Janine, there's something I need to tell you. I love you. That's why I ran into your room when Captain Conway announced the ship stalled. I really truly love you."

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Falkner loves me. I didn't know what to say. Should I say I love him? I guess so. There's no harm to it. "I love you too."

Falkner leaned in close to me, his arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around him too, leaning toward him. We were so close that our lips touched, and we began to kiss. Only about a second passed by when I heard a voice coming from around the corner. Falkner and I pulled away from each other, and the instant after we did so, I saw my father Koga standing over me.

"Janine, what did you do?"

"Go away." I didn't want him to know.

"I already know what you did. You kissed Falkner."

"He kissed me, and I just kissed back."

"You shouldn't have. You are not to kiss anyone ever again until you're fourteen. Clear?"

"NO! I love Falkner, and I'm not following your stupid rule!"

"Fine. Next time I catch you kissing Falkner or anyone, you will be punished."

I just storm back into my room. Falkner ran, and Koga headed back to his room. What had I done? My father was mad at me. I lay down on the bed and started to cry.

A few seconds later, I heard a voice. "What's wrong?"

I looked up and saw that it was Misty. I told her the entire story. "When Falkner dragged me out of the room, he told me he loved me. I told him I loved him, and we kissed for about a second, before… before… before my father came and yelled at me. He told me I wasn't supposed to be kissing anyone else until I was fourteen or else…" I continued to cry. "What do I doooooooooooooooooooooo?

"Calm down. You might want to follow his rule. Who knows what'll happen if you don't."

"So you want me to follow the rule? Well, I won't. You just don't get it."

"Yes, I do get it. You do know Brock is my boyfriend?"

"No…" I was surprised. I thought that Misty didn't have a boyfriend. "But you still don't get it. This is one of those relationships where nobody likes it except the people in the relationship. Your relationship is normal."

Misty sighs and walks away. As I was crying, I seemed to attract everyone else in the Kanto and Johto leagues who hadn't heard, even Lance. Lance seemed to be the only one who got it, along with Clair. "I'm secretly in a relationship with my cousin Clair. The rest of the Dragon Clan disapproves. My family. My situation is very similar to yours. Just keep it a secret the best you can. That's what I'm doing. Don't tell anyone else, OK?" Clair told the exact same story from her point of view. "Lance is secretly my boyfriend. We're cousins, so people get mad. Keep your relationship with Falkner a secret."

I followed Lance and Clair's instructions and told Falkner to do the same. He agreed to keep it a secret, for both of our sakes. We told everyone except Lance and Clair that we'd broken up. Everyone believed us. We were mad at each other for all they knew.

About an hour after the boat stalled, Captain Conway made an announcement. "The ship is out of oil. We're probably going to be stuck here until a rescue boat arrives with more. During this time, all passengers should stay out of areas such as the pool and arcade and stay near the rooms. Access to the first aid center is permitted. Room service will also be providing food."

I was scared. We'd be stuck at sea for a while. Well, maybe not a while, more like an hour. We were about two hours' worth of sailing off shore, and rescue boats can go twice as fast as cruise ships. Everyone on the ship tried as hard as they could to stay up until the ship was fixed. When everyone was in their rooms (Misty was visiting Brock), Falkner snuck into my room. "Shhh."

"What?"

"Just here to visit. Stay quiet."

Falkner then walks up to me and sits down on my bed. "Bugsy is in the shower, so I was able to sneak out. Everyone was in a room, so I was the only one in the hall. Man, think of what could have happened if Koga saw me."

"Uh oh." I snicker quietly.

The next thing I knew, we were kissing again. I held onto Falkner and he held onto me as the kiss continued. It lasted about ten seconds and we kissed about three times. It felt so good that I lost track of time. Finally letting go, I smile and tell him I love him. I walk over to the couch and sit down. Falkner sits down beside me. I turn and rest my head on his lap, and he ran his fingers through my violet hair. We were startled when Whitney runs into the room. "Guys… whoa! What are you doing? I thought you were mad at each other!"

"Shhh. Don't tell anyone." I try to get Whitney to stay quiet.

"OK… But here's some big news. I saw Lance kissing Clair out on the deck! They weren't supposed to be there!"

I sit up. "Seriously? I knew they were a couple, but I didn't know they kissed!"

"Yeah! I caught them going out to the deck, and I stalked them. I hid behind a pole, and I caught them!"

Falkner starts talking. "Shhh. Don't go telling everyone. They're not supposed to be together."  
>Whitney spoke in a quieter tone. "Okay."<p>

After Whitney left, Falkner and I laid down and watched some TV until I heard footsteps. "Falkner! Hide!" Falkner runs and hides under the bed. It turned out that it was Clair. Even though Clair knew, Falkner stayed hidden. Clair spoke. "Have you seen a pink-haired girl running around? She was snooping around on the deck."

I decided to stay quiet since Whitney was keeping the secret. "Nope, haven't seen her."

"OK. Thanks anyway."

Clair left the room and Falkner came out of hiding. Before Falkner could hide again, Koga came in. "What is HE doing in here?"

"I… don't… know…" I replied awkwardly.

"Get out, you idiot, Falkner." My father was angry. "And you, missy, I need to talk to you."

Falkner ran out of the room as my father sat down. "You apparently still love him. Why did you disobey me?"

"Because you can't penetrate love when it's this strong."

"So what? Stay away from him. I'm going to let you off easy this time since you didn't kiss him, but next time, stay away."

My father left the room. I couldn't believe that he had actually just appeared out of nowhere. He and I are both ninjas, but we're not supposed to be stalking people. He knew that. I sighed and began to cry.


End file.
